The present invention relates to constructions of envelopes and envelope systems which can be fed into and printed on by laser and/or ink jet printers, and to methods for feeding of envelopes into a printer or copier for a printing operation thereon.
Many xe2x80x9cmachineablexe2x80x9d envelopes which lend themselves to either laser printers or ink jet printers are in use today. Unfortunately, today""s machineable envelopes are subject to xe2x80x9cskewing,xe2x80x9d which results when an envelope travels in a misaligned manner through the printer. This results in the address being typed by the printer in a crooked orientation on the envelope. This misalignment is caused by the envelope, which is aligned with one side of the printer""s paper tray, migrating away from that side or edge of the tray during the printing process.
To prevent this skewing the consumer will typically hand feed the envelopes one-at-a-time into the printer. Unfortunately, this is a very time consuming process. Also, the inability to load the paper tray with multiple envelopes prevents large-scale mailings and mail merges wherein a computer program accesses multiple names from a pre-existing database and sends them directly to the printer. Thus, today""s envelopes are essentially unusable for large volume mailing applications using personal (PC) printers.
Additionally, an industry is emerging to supply postage over the Internet (see, e.g., www.stamps.com). PC postage allows consumers to print postage-metered labels at their home. Every time a consumer prints a postage label, he is charged for the postage by the PC postage firm; that is, the act of printing triggers the postage charge. Unfortunately, with today""s envelopes the postage label must be applied by the printer in a step separate from the address printing step. This is because if the consumer attempts to print directly onto normal envelopes, the above-discussed envelope skewing can cause the print to run off the edge of the envelope. This can result in the stamped envelope not being honored by the Post Office. In other words, the consumer will still be charged by the PC postage firm for the PC postage printed envelope even though the envelope is unacceptable to the Post Office due to the skewed printing of the postage label.
Accordingly, directed to remedying the above-discussed printer skewing problems which can cause misaligned address printing, misaligned and thus often defective PC postage application, and result in the inability to do high volume mailing using the consumer""s PC, disclosed herein are improved envelope assemblies and methods for using same. The envelope assembly includes a traditional envelope, such as a size #10, side seam envelope, and a paper strip (or panel). With the flap of the envelope in an open position, the paper strip is releasably adhered to the inside surface of the flap with the strip extending out and away from the flap and envelope pocket. The strip preferably has the same length as that of the envelope so that the side edges of the strip are aligned with and extend out from the side edges of the envelope. The outward edge of the strip is parallel to the bottom edge of the envelope whereby the strip and envelope together define a rectangle. Since the removable strip (preferably) extends only the length of the envelope, the envelope can be fed from either side of the paper tray, i.e., in multiple directions.
A stack of the envelope assemblies can be stacked into a feed tray and the envelope assemblies automatically fed into the printer or copier and the addresses, postage and/or other desired indicia printed on the envelopes in a single printing step. The printed envelope assemblies are then removed from the printer output trays, the strips peeled off, desired contents inserted in the envelope pocket and the flaps sealed closed.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those persons having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains from the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.